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A Natural Fit
Bonnie Noble’s vision for
Peoria Parks and Recreation
brings stability with top
programming, staff.
By Paul Gordon
Bonnie Noble
26
thePeorian.com
W
hen she was in school
in River Forest, a Chi-
cago suburb, Bonnie
Noble found that the field trips
she enjoyed most were simple
nature walks.
“I loved learning different
things about different trees and
other parts of nature in our parks
there. I guess since then, all I ever
really wanted to do was be part
of a parks and recreation organi-
zation.
“I guess you could say I am
very lucky. Not many people get
to go to work in a park every day.
I wouldn’t change a thing,” said
Noble, now in her 20th year as
executive director of the Peoria
Park District.
While not a native, Noble has
lived in Peoria since 1968 when
she and her husband Kent came
so he could accept a position with
a local law firm. “I’m definitely a
Peorian now,” she said.
She herself was armed with a
degree in parks and recreation
management from the University
of Illinois and had hopes of work-
ing for the Peoria Park District.
She’d written a paper about it
while in college and with her
degree and the fact she worked
for the Forest Park Park District
from the time she was a teen-ager
and during breaks in college, it
seemed natural.
It didn’t happen, for several
reasons. So she took a position as
a caseworker for the Illinois De-
partment of Public Aid and was a
partner in the local Athlete’s Foot
retail franchise.
Then in 1973, Noble was
elected to the Park Board. “I ran
because of my interest in parks
and recreation, no question about
it. I wanted to do what I could to
keep my hand in it and that was
the best way, at the time,” said
Noble, who served as Park Board
president during the 1980s.
Then in 1992, when she was the
director of the Heartland Water
Resources Council and still a
member of the Park Board, the
Park District’s executive director
position came open. She applied.
“It wasn’t handed to me.
The district still went through
a national search process, and
I wanted it to. They offered me
the job and I gladly accepted. I
was one of the lucky ones who
got to turn an avocation into my
vocation. It’s a great job to be able
to help people enjoy what this
area has to offer, to help them
get more out of their lives. The
hands-on part of the job, when
I really get the chance to reach
people and interact with them, is
the best part of it all,” she said.
When she took the position the
district had an annual operating
budget of $15 million; today it is
$44 million and the increase has
been accomplished without any
taxes increases, Noble said. In
1992, she added, 60 percent to 70
percent of the district’s funding
came from property taxes and
the rest of the budget was met
through gifts, fees, charges for
programming and reinvesting.
“We have reversed that and
that is something I’m very proud
of it. Of course, it could not
have happened without some
great partnerships with different
organizations and companies,
like Caterpillar, OSF, the city and
county. The partnerships work,
plus we have a very generous
community in Peoria,” she said.